SquidgeWorld Archive

"I wish I'd never been artificially created in a lab!" Scott Evil attempted to storm out of the room but was swept away by a blinding flash of light. Slowly, he regained consciousness. He realized he was naked. In bed. With a redheaded female. A redheaded female -- also naked, just like him -- who was tracing shapes on his chest and cooing softly at him. And -- perhaps most frightening to him -- he had no desire to respond to her caresses.

"Oz, honey, what's wrong?" The girl was gazing at him. It took a moment for him to identify the emotion on her face. Concern. People tended to not be concerned about him. This was strange. Nice, but strange.

But the name she called him confused him. "Who's Oz?"

Now it was her turn to be confused. "Uh, you are." Her fingers stopped. "Are you playing a game?" Now a grin. "I like your games." The fingers moved down his body. She ducked under the sheet, head -- and tongue -- following fingers. He closed his eyes, unsure about what he should do next. She clearly thought he was someone else, but she was also just as clearly intent on becoming intimately familiar with him.

But a little voice in his head told him that it was something that had to stop. Even though she was obviously willing to do certain fun things to him, he wasn't the person she truly wanted to do those things to. At least he didn't think he was. So that's what a conscience is like. Weird. "Look, I --" The tongue on the inside of his upper thigh made it nearly impossible to think.

Suddenly, she stopped. The sheet covering them both was shoved aside. "Where's the tattoo?" Her fingers stroked the inside of his upper thigh. Her eyes grew big. "Oh, no. You're not Oz." Oddly, she wasn't as panicked or upset about it as he expected. She just groaned, grabbed her clothes, and muttered, "We've got to get you to Giles."

~~~~

A couple of quick calls to Buffy and Xander, and Willow was out the door to Giles', non-Oz person in tow. Buffy met her there and kept him occupied while Willow and Giles did research.

Xander bounced onto the scene, fully wired by way of doughnuts and coffee, depositing a box of pastries on the counter. "Hey, Will, what's up with Oz? He's out there chattering away to Buff in a most un-Oz-like way."

"He's not Oz." Willow concentrated on the computer in front of her, avoiding his eyes.

Xander's brow furrowed. "How do you know? He looks exactly the same to me. Maybe he just has some sort of amnesia or something."

She shifted uncomfortably. "Trust me. He's not Oz."

"But Will --"

She groaned, burying her face in her hands. She had *really* hoped she wouldn't have to reveal this part. To anyone, but especially Xander. "Oz has certain... marks on him. This guy doesn't."

"What do you mean?"

Face still pointed at the floor, she replied, "A couple of months ago, he got a tattoo. A witch tattoo. For me. Well, not really *for* me, but *because* of me. Anyway, this guy doesn't have it."

"Where? I haven't seen it, and I've been on wolfie duty."

If possible, Willow turned even redder. "It's in a place *you* wouldn't see. Even on wolf duty."

"Oh." He wasn't sure he wanted to know exactly where it was or how she managed to see it. "It could have been temporary."

"No. Trust me on this." She wondered if she would ever be able to look Xander in the face again.

He felt like a jerk -- again -- for forcing this information out of her. "I'm sorry. But, hey, at least you found out before you --"

Giles chose that moment to walk in, interrupting their conversation. Both Willow and Xander silently thanked whatever gods and/or goddesses were looking out for them. "Well, according to Buffy, it looks like we have a problem on our hands. Oz is gone, correct?"

"Yeah. That guy is definitely not Oz." Xander felt protective of Willow. Even though he had the information about her that he did, there was no reason that Giles should have it as well. "And this Scott guy is here in his place."

Buffy finally entered the room, followed by a very chatty Oz-shaped person. Everyone stared at the talkative teen with blue hair. "Dudes, what's up? Doesn't your version of me talk?"

"Um, actually, no. At least not much, and not to us." Xander indicated everyone but Willow. "I'm not sure what goes on when he and Will are together." At the mention of her alone with Oz, the redhead began to turn an interesting shade of purple and left the room. "But I think we can guess now." He mentally kicked himself for his thoughtless comments, but at least they weren't hurtful comments. Just incredibly embarrassing.

Giles attempted to take control of the conversation. "Yes. Well, Xander, you seem best-suited for this task. Could you entertain Scott while we try to figure out how to get him back to his world?"

Out of the corner of his eye, Xander could see Scott. Looking back -- rather intently -- at him. What was *that* look about? "Okay. If you cover lunch and gas."

Giles rolled his eyes in mock-irritation. He knew Xander could hardly afford an afternoon outing for just himself, so paying the way for two people was out of the question. Besides, he *had* stopped for doughnuts on his way over. And he had remembered extra jellies. Giles dug out his wallet. Fortunately, he had stopped at a cash machine that morning. "Here. Fifty dollars. It's all I have on me right now."

Xander grinned. He hadn't expected Giles to go for that request. "Good enough. C'mon, man, let's roll."

~~~~

They had been meandering around Sunnydale for most of the afternoon, and Scott was beginning to get tired. A nice round of channel surfing had a certain appeal to it. "Hey, can we go back to your place? Or my place -- wherever that is -- or Giles' place or anywhere else with a couch and a tv? I'm not used to walking around in this heat."

"Sure." Xander was disappointed. It had been a nice afternoon. Walking around, talking to someone who was completely removed from the whole Scooby Gang phenomenon, spending Giles' money. He had hoped it wouldn't end. "I'm not sure where Oz lives, but my parents shouldn't be home."

"You have parents? What's that like?"

The oh-so-casual tone alerted Xander to the fact that it was anything but a casual question. "Not the fun and games it appears to be." He turned to Scott to say something about their drinking habits but was stopped by the stony expression on the shorter boy's face. In a softer tone, he continued, "Hey, let's not talk about that right now. First priority: getting out of the sun. You may have blue hair right now, but I know Oz is a redhead, and those things can spontaneously combust."

~~~~

Cautiously, Xander opened the front door to his house. Stale cigarette smoke hung heavy in the air while _Jerry Springer_ blared in the background. "Damn. Mom's home. We'll have to be quiet."

"Xander, honey? How was your day?"

He cringed at the sound of her voice, wondering how many bottles would be in the recycling bins the next morning. "Fine, Mom." Silently, he pleaded to whatever forces had interrupted his earlier conversation with Willow. Please don't let her turn around and see Scott.

"That's nice." And with that, her attention drifted back to the television.

The boys silently made their way up the stairs to Xander's room. "So that's your mom, huh?" As much as he didn't want to discuss the woman downstairs, Scott felt at a complete loss for other conversation topics.

"Yeah." Xander sighed, moving from one object to another around his room, touching them and adjusting their positions as if centering himself. Finally, his inventory complete, he collapsed on his bed. "Oh, hey, sit down. Your feet must be killing you. Mine are, and I'm used to that kind of walking."

Scott glanced around the room. He could sit on the floor or on a chair, but he opted for the bed as well. The afternoon had made him feel close to the brunette, and so it seemed odd to sit anywhere else.

Suddenly, Scott turned to Xander, gently turning the larger boy's face to his. And then their lips met with just enough pressure and movement for Xander to realize it wasn't an accident. He tensed. "I'm not gay."

"Hey, man, that's okay." Scott continued to stroke Xander's jaw. "Neither am I. But we could be not gay together."

Xander considered the suggestion. There was a certain logic to that. "All right." After all, Scott would only be here until Giles figured out how to get Oz back from wherever he was.

Scott pulled away abruptly. "So did I tell you about my dad?" Again, that too-casual voice. He was changing subjects just a bit too quickly for Xander, but a way to protest was just not making itself apparent, especially considering that tone of voice. Scott was perched on the edge of the bed, carefully studying his hands folded over his knees. "He was gone my whole life. I had no idea where he was. Then he just showed up out of nowhere, expecting everything to be perfect and shiny and wonderful. I have my life, you know? And he wanted to take it over. He expected me to just do whatever he said. To be just like him. And he's pretty dumb. Unrealistic. He has these big plans, but any five-year-old could see the holes in them. But whenever anyone tries to point out the problems, he just tells them to shut up. Actually, I'm the only one that tried to tell him that there were problems. Everyone else is afraid of him or something. I understand why, though. He tried to kill me. Seriously, he would be just as happy if I wasn't around. Probably happier." He fell back, stretching out on the bed. "And I look at you guys, and I realize that those people I thought were my friends aren't really. We were -- are -- just freaks hanging out together." He sat up again. "I don't want to go back, Xander. I have nothing there. I don't have much here, but I do feel like you and I are at least sort of friends."

"I know what you mean." He decided to take a risk. If he was rejected, well, he could add that to his long list of failures. And, well, the other teen had started it. "I don't want you to go, either." He realized his arm was hanging loosely around Scott's shoulders. And that Scott wasn't moving away. In fact, he was moving closer to Xander. Another risk seemed to be in order. He tightened his hold around Scott's shoulders. This time, Xander pulled Scott's face to his.

When they finally moved away from each other, tears were making their way down Scott's face. "Thank you."

~~~~

Xander found Giles intently studying yet another of his books. "Giles? I don't think we should send Scott back."

The older man did not look up from the book. "What do you mean?"

"Well, he and I were talking, and he's got a really bad home life. No mom, his father was gone until just a little while ago, and now his dad hates him -- I mean, his dad has actually tried to *kill* him -- and he doesn't have any real friends." He sighed and turned his attention to his shoes. "I look at him, and I see what I could have been if it wasn't for you guys. I mean, my home life sucks, too, but you're like my unofficial dad. He doesn't even have that. If we send him back, it will be even worse for him. He knows there's more out there than what he has, and now it's within his reach if he stays." Now he looked up to discover that Giles had finally pulled his eyes away from the text. "But only if we can bring Oz back. I miss him. That's something I never thought I would say. But Willow is upset. And you can't be upset when you're around Oz. It's just not possible."

Willow cleared her throat. He hadn't noticed her in the corner of the room. "Actually, we figured out how to get Oz back. It's a simple spell, a lot like the one Anya tried to use in order to get her necklace back, but slightly different. But Scott was a problem. Since we don't know anything about him, we couldn't begin to figure out how to get him back. But we do need him here for the Oz spell. Just in case something goes wrong -- like if he went away and someone else came to take his place." She paused, looking carefully at his face. He had the uneasy feeling that she was reading his soul. Then he realized that wasn't all bad. "But we'll just have to try to get him back -- just like we're doing for Oz -- if that happens."

~~~~

The spell went off without a hitch except for the billows of smoke that filled the small room. No one could see anything, making any movement an interesting venture. Xander slowly felt his way around the room until his fingers grazed a stubble-covered cheek. "Oz?"

Oz's voice called out from the other side of the room. "Over here. You guys will *not* believe where I was."

A voice identical to Oz's spoke softly in front on Xander. "Yes, I would." Xander realized his fingers were still on that cheek. Then a hand not his own moved his fingers to the lips that went with the cheek. Then the hand reached around his waist.

Finally, Xander found his voice. "You're still here."

"Yeah." The hand pulled Xander closer to the other body. Everyone else in the room was slowly making their way to Oz's side of the room to welcome him back to his reality, so no one was paying attention to the two males in each others' arms. "Now are you going to kiss me or what?"